How
important is the church?
Andy
Jesus
said, “On this rock I will build My church..” Matt
16:18, NKJV
Jesus
is both the sole foundation on which the church is built and the sole builder
of His church. In other words, the church is built upon Jesus and built by
Jesus.
“And He said to them, ‘All too well you reject
the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition…. making the
word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed
down.” Mark 7:9,13, NKJV
The
Jews mixed the gradual input of the traditions of men which benefited an
ecclesiastical hierarchy system, overly focusing on a building, and filling His
people with religious ritual while rejecting God’s word and ultimately denying
that word.
Our
name-it and claim-it deception has risen to a level of taking something
belonging to Jesus and naming it and using it for the ends of which God never
intended it.
Jesus
the chief cornerstone.
“having been built on the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
in whom the whole building, being joined
together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being
built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Eph 2:20-22
“You
also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual
house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God through Jesus Christ. Behold, I lay in
Jesus
the builder of His own house.
“Moses
also was faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses,
inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every
house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses
indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for
a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a
Son over His own house, whose house we
are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope
firm to the end.” Heb 3:2-6
Without
spending a lot of time in etymology, the word “church” comes from the Greek kuriakon, which means,
“belonging to the Lord.” In other words, a building, temple etc.. Hundreds of years later, some of the Greeks innocently
used their Greek word kuriakon referring to the “place” they met, the
building “belonging to the Lord.” Since then and through
The
old saying goes, “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.”
If we go to church, build the church, have building funds for the church and
people ask you what church you go to, all this indicates the building is the
church.
How
many countless times have we heard pastors, in support of their tabernacle
building fund, pleading to their congregations to support the enlarging of the
Lord’s house or His church? This subtle move through the centuries and through
the traditions of men to add a building into the issue has had devastating
consequences upon God’s purpose for His people. In a sense, the diversion directed
to the building has robbed the people of God in their significance as “being”
His function body.
This
whole idea is rooted in the bias and benefit of a few men holding the
unbiblical positions of clergy and at the cost and sacrifice of the function of
the many.
So
the church is clearly not a building. Bible translators
purposely mistranslated many words in support of the religious ecclesiastical
hierarchy of the day. There simply wasn’t any grammatical reason and
justification for ekklesia to be translated
as “church.”
The true meaning for church
The
meaning of the Greek word ekklesia, is the
“called-out-ones” and not a called-into-a-building-ones. Certainly
not a “pew-sitter-one.” The saints were “called out” of the world and
called into Christ and His body. They shared a common bond in Jesus and the
Holy Spirit. Their faithfulness, holiness, and love did not go unnoticed by
those around them. Their ministry to one another and their outreach to the
world was not dependant on large sums of money being sucked from all the tithes
of the saints. Their ministry was based on God’s presence, power and love. It
was not ministry dependent on money, but God.
They
were a family structure supporting one another. They were recognized by the
world and the world was threatened by their love, unity and power. The saints
of God would rather die than be divided. They were a loving, forgiving and
supportive group. It was said of them, “Behold how they love one another.” They
were a testimony to the love of the Father and His Son working through the Holy
Spirit. Their meetings left a person with a sense of relevance and reality, not
silence and lethargy.
Relationships
must have function or it is not His church.
“For
I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among
you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think
(pastors do that to day, they are thought more highly and ignore the rest of
the body), but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith (not just the pastor). For
as we have many
members in one body (where did denominations come from?), but all the
members do not have the same
function (what is
it called when function is eliminated?),
so we, being
many, are one body (denomination?) in Christ, and individually members of one another (are we
members of one another in function and responsibility?). Having then gifts
(do we?) differing according to the grace that is given to us
(the church, the body of Christ), let us use them: if
prophecy, let us prophesy
in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it (ministry) in our ministering; he who
teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with
liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with
cheerfulness.” Rom 12:3-8
Everyone
plays a key role in the function of body of Christ. God’s grace gives to every
man a supernatural gift to build up the body of Christ. Only when we focus on
the church being “the people,” will we begin to realize the full potential of
being members of His body. It is demonstratably clear, our bodies must share
both function and purpose. And it is just as clear that we could not exist if
it didn’t.
There
can be no lethargy in a living body. It must possess function and purpose for it
to live. If just one member stops functioning, the whole body suffers. We must
see that our coming together is for the building ourselves up in love. This is
what Jesus meant by building His church. He has called us and gifted us to do
so. You say, “I have no spiritual gift to share with others.” It is because we
have been told to sit and listen, while one man does all the ministering. atrophy sets in when the body members
fail to move. It often takes a long time to get the body to function again. The
church today is in a state of atrophy, our functioning
ability has been scandalously disregarded and silenced.
“But
speaking the truth in love, (we) may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ: From
whom the whole body
fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according
to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” Eph 4:15-16
“And above all things have fervent love
for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of
sins." Be hospitable to one
another without grumbling. As each one has received a
gift, minister it
to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If
anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone
ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all
things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom
belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:7-11
“There are diversities of gifts, but the same
Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are
diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the
manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit
of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to
another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the
same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the
working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to
another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to
each one individually as He wills.” 1 Cor 12:4-11
If
you ever wondered why sometimes you feel so lonely in a crowded church
building, the answer is in the above passages. The church has reduced the
average Christian to an insignificant commodity. Whenever I see a pastor speaking in front of an
audience, I think of all the ministries being destroyed by reducing the church
to a stage recital. The five fold ministry isn’t to decimate ministry among the
saints, it is to extend it and cause it to grow. It should be, if done
scripturally, causing a decrease of the five fold ministry and an increase of
the body. I am sickened when I see people flocking to have their ears tickled
by the charismatic-Hollywood-style ministries while assuming a pew warming
posture.
I
am eternally grateful the Lord stopped me and showed me His body. I would be an
institutional pastor if it wasn’t for His drastic matters. Since being free
from the institutional system, I find myself open to every word that comes from
the mouth of God and through His body. “And the Spirit and the
bride say, ‘Come!’" (Rev 22:17)
My
spirit is stirred to see His body arise from those man-made tombs, to see His
people rid themselves of those grave clothes put on through the traditions of
men’s egos.
I
want to see His church! I cry for it. I pray for it. I am burdened for a living
body. substitutes and
compromising are eating away the life of His body. I need the body, the
brother’s fellowship, their revelation, and their ministries. The true joy of
the church is when we all participate.
Man’s
schooling prepares them to dominate by professionalism; God’s anointing frees
the body to function and it establishes His kingdom rule in the hearts of the
saints. “Let God be true but every man a liar.” Rom 3:4, NKJV
Our
meetings should be like a pinball machine, lights going on everywhere. Life flowing from one vessel to another.
I
remember such meetings during the middle sixties and early seventies. we couldn’t get together enough. The
power, the presence and the revelation filled those meetings. Jesus gave us a
taste of His glory back then, but we quickly sold out to the old wine skins of
institutionalism which quickly burst. We got cold and competitive, sowing
discord, betraying one another and dividing and dying.
Jesus
is praying we would have eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit is saying
to the churches, His body. He is looking for new wine skins to fill them with
His anointing. He is calling us out and into Himself.
Praise
God there is another wave coming… it is his body, the glorious saints without
wrinkle and spot.
“And these signs shall follow them that
believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new
tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall
not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover … And
they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and
confirming the word with signs following. Amen.” Mark 16:17-18, 20
“‘And it shall come to pass in the last days,
says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see
visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those
days; And they shall prophesy.”
Acts 2:17-18, NKJV
Individualism
Traditionally,
Christianity in
The
scripture talks with this viewpoint or paradigm in mind:
“And let us consider one another
in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves
together (ourselves is a plural recognition of belonging to a specific group or
family), as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another (something
we lack in the institutional system), and so much the more as you see the Day
approaching.” Heb 10:24-25
“Consider one another,” “exhorting one
another,” clearly point to a committed, functioning relationship we have with a
specific group or family.
John
puts it in stronger terms,
“But
if we walk in the
light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another.” 1 John 1:7
The
purpose of walking in the light and sharing has fundamental reasons: so we can
“exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ (Why?) lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin. For we (together) have become partakers of Christ if we hold
the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.” Heb 3:13-14
The
manifested love for one another is a powerful case for being a Christian.
Without it, there is no evidence of true salvation.
Loving
one another is impossible if we are independent individuals. Jesus spoke nothing
about attending a church building, but a coming together to show forth His love
toward one another. Loving meant we meet together by the drawing of the Holy
Spirit. And when we come together, it is the presence of the Holy Spirit that
manifests Himself in the form of gifts. The saints lived in the presence of
God. they were continually filled
with Spirit of God, and when they came together, it was a spiritually
explosive… dynamite. The power changed all.
In
the church today, we are not given the opportunity to love one another. The
most we experience is maybe the permission from the pastor to “turn to your
neighbor and tell him you love Him.”
“If we love one another, God
abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.” 1 John 4:12
Can
I ask a simple but direct question, “If we do not love one another, will God
abide in us?”
“We
know that we have passed from death to life (How?), because we
love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.”
1 John 3:14
We
see a “we” centered people and a “one another” response mentioned all through
scripture. relationships were not
independent relationships, but interdependent relationships. John presents the
point that something is wrong if we are not experiencing this love for one
another.
New
wine in new wineskins.
“Can
the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is
with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from
them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of
unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment,
and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins,
(Why?) or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins
are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both
are preserved." Matt 9:15-17
The
new wine represents the Holy Spirit moving in vessels. If the wineskin is old,
it will break. If the wineskin is new and flexible, it will expand with the new
wine.
A
true salvation relationship is an ever-deepening experience with Jesus and
one another. We should be in a constant state of change and growth. As the new
wine is being poured in us, we are expanding to be more like Jesus. If we are
old wine skins, we probably lost the new wine years ago and are not aware of
it.
Isn’t
it regrettable how little we experience love for one another in the church
today, and how little we know of what to do in a meeting that is not organized
to the very last detail. The church is a place where God’s gifts and power
should be a common everyday experience.
The
whole system of church that exists now is foreign to the true biblical
tradition. One wonders where to begin to make changes. God is looking for new
wine skins that will expand with the new wine.
I
realize most of those we call Christians today are incapable of having
committed relationships with one another. Intimate relationships tend to bring
to surface both the bad with the good. Many things which were
hidden and below the surface are given the opportunity to come to light.
Everything that is spiritual must pass through the fire. If you can’t stand the
heat, stay in the safety of the institutional church. it is well organized and programmed to prevent interactions
and the surfacing of personal flaws.
The
carnal nature works well in singing and listening to teaching to titillate and
stimulate the itching ear. Large meetings provide the distance from one
another, so that we can focus on “studying” the scriptures rather than being
affected by them. Over a number of years, even those on fire become shallow and
mellow.
Even
though “how” we do church may be important, it is “being” church that God is
looking for.
In
the church that meets in our home, we are learning to listen to one another and
respect one another. We are learning to move in the Spirit and hear His voice.
There is much talk on the presence of God and seeing Jesus in our trials in our
meetings. We try to stay focused on the simplicity of Jesus and loving Him.
Kathryn
Kuhlman often said, “When the church came in, it came in with great glory, and
when it goes out, it will go out with great glory. Nothing, no nothing, He
starts will end in defeat.”
I
am absolutely convinced that in the last move, God is not going to pour out His
Spirit on a divided, man-centered, man-programmed, man-named denominational wineskin.
The institutional system is corrupted at its very root. In the past when God
poured out His Spirit in the denominational churches, it burst the wineskin and
it became another method to cause “their” church to grow. Years later, when we
go back to visit these churches birthed by the one-time revivals, we see
nothing but traditional institutionalism. Many I know
today who were once on fire for God, look like the old stale denominations of
yesterday.
The seeds of men’s
traditionalism:
“‘Shall I not punish
these people?’ declares the LORD, ‘On a nation such as this Shall I not
avenge Myself?’ An appalling and horrible thing Has
happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on
their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do
at the end of it?” Jer 5:29-31 NASU
“My people love it so!” God will always let us
have the religion our heart desires.
Being
ruled by men and the acceptance of the “lie” is the root of man’s
traditionalism. Instead of our willingness to each accept our responsibility
before Him and to one another, we transfer the responsibility to another
person…. the pastor, priest, elder, etc.. Misleading
traditions begins when we seek “someone” to represent us. These kinds of
traditions can only succeed if there are the people willing to support and
accept it. Our passion to have a physical representative, someone we can see
and hear, someone who will confirm our beliefs, is manifested in the
institutionalism of the church. We seek
someone who will salve our conscience and protect us from the true force of the
word. We want someone to
“prophesy to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.” Isa 30:10
We
want someone of great stature to point and identify with. We want a person with
special abilities and giftings to feed that ever itching desire to ever
learn. If we can’t be “fed” in one church, we will leave and find someone to
satisfy that itch deep in our ear.
The
bible has many examples of such people:
when
God spoke to the children of
“Then
they said to Moses, ‘You speak with us, and we will
hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.’” Ex 20:19, NKJV
Israel
during the time of Samuel the priest and prophet, also had a heart for a man to
represent them: “Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel;
and they said, No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be
like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before
us and fight our battles” 1 Sam 8:19-20
“But
you have today rejected your God, who Himself saved you from all your
adversities and your tribulations; and you have said to Him, 'No, set a
king over us!'” 1 Sam 10:18-19, NKJV
www.voiceofonecrying.com/leadership_in_the_early_church.htm
So,
who therefore, will God respond with truth?
“But
on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.” Isa 66:2, NKJV
Conclusion
“My
soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When
your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn
righteousness. Though grace is shown to the wicked, they
do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness
they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the LORD.”
Isa 26:9-10 NIV
He
truly has become my
shepherd, I shall not want any other. He Himself has led me beside the still
and calm waters. He continues each day to restore my soul while leading me in
the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yes, though I walk
through the valley and the shadow of death falls upon me, I will fear no evil; Why you say? I will tell you why: because I know He is with me. His rod
and His staff, they continue to comfort and direct me. He has prepared a table
to provide for me right in the center of my enemies attack. He has anointed my
head and thoughts with oil; My cup and spirit runs
over. Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house
of the LORD Forever…. I now understand!
My
psalm 23
Amen